THE world has gone mad while I've been away on holiday. Every time I bought an English newspaper while I was in Spain, there was another front page story about Great White Sharks lurking off the coast of Cornwall.

The Sun, desperate to have more bite than its red-top rivals in the shark frenzy, led its front page on the story three days running, once with the headline DER-DUM, DER-DUM, DUM, DUM, DUM, DUM in honour of The Jaws theme music.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail was getting almost as excited about an exclusive picture of the legendary Beast of Dartmoor, which was reported to be anything from a big cat to a small bear.

In the end, it turned out to be nothing more than a shaggy and very friendly Newfoundland pet dog called Troy, which is regularly taken for walks in the area by its owner.

This time of year is what is known in the trade as "The Silly Season" when newspapers are more likely to fill their pages during the quieter summer months with whacky tales, usually involving mythical animals.

Indeed, The Northern Echo hasn't been immune to the effects of The Silly Season over the years. We once had an over-enthusiastic news editor who became obsessed with sightings of the Durham Puma and came into news conference claiming to have the first photograph of the terrifying creature.

It had been sent in by a reader and showed a blurred image of a large cat-like beast in a County Durham forest. Under closer examination by experts, we were advised that it was actually a novelty pyjama case from a popular Marks & Spencer range.

Seven years ago, we joined other local and national newspapers pursuing reports of a six-feet-long crocodile on the loose in Heaton Park, Newcastle, but nothing was ever found.

And going back further, to 1989, there was the unforgettable saga of the infamous, dog-eating Fatfield Pike. Not quite a Great White Shark, but it caused enough of a stir to fill endless column inches in newspapers for miles around.

Our archives show that even The Northern Echo's Sunderland reporter Colin Tapping - now the esteemed editor of the award-winning Hexham Courant and not a man to get easily excited - was up at the crack of dawn on the trail of the "vicious 35-pound monster" that had allegedly killed and mutilated a terrier in James Steel Park at Fatfield, Washington.

"Three of its legs had been torn off and a large chunk bitten out of its head," Tapping reported.

Ducks had also been spotted being gobbled up by the fishy freak and there were warnings that small children paddling in pond might be attacked.

Needless to say, the Fatfield Pike was never caught. Who knows, it might still be lurking in the park pond.

And be warned - pike have been known to live for up to 30 years, so by now it may well be capable of snatching a small horse.

QUOTE of the week came from County Durham farmer Andrew Spence, below, after The Northern Echo revealed that he'd severed ties with the British National Party, following a punch-up with the party's treasurer.

Mr Spence, who stood for the far-right BNP in the recent Sedgefield by-election, said: "The BNP are not the party I thought they were."

Surprise, surprise. I bet he believes in the Beast of Dartmoor and the Fatfield Pike, as well.